Tawse

A two-tailed Lochgelly Tawse.

A tawse, sometimes formerly spelled taws (commonly named "The Belt") (the plural of Scots taw, a thong of a whip) is an implement for corporal punishment. It was used for educational discipline, primarily in Scotland, but also in schools in the English cities of Newcastle Upon Tyne, Gateshead, Manchester and Walsall.

A tawse consists of a strip of leather, with one end split into a number of tails. The thickness of the leather and the number of tails varied. Many Scottish saddlers made tawses for local customers. The official name "tawse" was hardly ever used in conversation by either teachers or pupils, who instead referred to it as either the school strap or the belt, which is normally a term for an unforked implement, as worn in trousers (see belt).

It was Robert Philp, a saddler and ironmonger with his shop at 150 Main Street, Lochgelly who, around 1885 was asked by his son, who taught in a local school, to make a tawse to help him control his pupils. Possibly from an off cut of harness hide, Mr Philp made a longer, at around 27", and narrower, at around 1 1/4", tawse than had been the norm at that time with 2 long tails designed specifically to chastise the palms of the hands. His tawse proved to be very effective and, as its reputation grew, orders came in firstly from local teachers and later from the Edinburgh area where his daughter Catherine was a school teacher. As word spread among the teaching profession, orders started to arrive in ever increasing numbers and from all over Scotland. As the years passed and the requirements for saddlery, leatherwork and what was becoming known as "The Lochgelly Tawse" increased, Mr Philp engaged apprentice saddlers to assist with the workload.

Mr Philp refined the design of his tawse over the years, shortening both the overall length of the strap and the length of the tails. He started using heavier leather, introduced a shaped handle at one end, cut a large hanging slot in the handle and introduced crease lining on all edges to improve the cosmetic appearance. At that time the tawse was often hung up on the classroom wall, or on the teacher's desk, as a visual warning to pupils. Particular care was taken to select the very best leather and to carefully remove all sharp edges from the newly made strap where the cutting, shaping and finishing was always done by hand during the many decades of manufacture. The straps were designed to deliver sudden and painful chastisement, but not to cut the flesh nor to leave any long-term signs of marking.

Around 1886 Mr Philp engaged his son Robert Jnr. as his first apprentice saddler, followed by James Heggie around 1890 and George Dick around 1896. There was a 10 year apprenticeship to be served before the trainee was qualified as a fully time served saddler. On the retirement of Robert Philp Snr c.1906 his son Robert Philp Jnr took over the running of the firm and the business name was changed to Robert Philp and Son. Following the premature death of Robert Philp Jnr in 1929, James Heggie, by now the senior saddler, took over as manager of the business. He was later to purchase it from Mr Philp Snr's widow Margaret. Mr Heggie continued to produce school straps stamped Robert Philp and Son until 1945. So perfect for its purpose was the Lochgelly tawse that it changed little in design over its 100 years of manufacture.

George Dick, having completed his apprenticeship with Robert Philp, left the firm c.1906 to find work elsewhere but he returned to The Yard, in High Street, Lochgelly to work with his brothers in their coachbuilding business c.1909. The trimming of seats and panels was his main employment but he developed into saddlery as there was plenty of work available with many horses being used for transport. From c.1923 he started to produce his own version of the Lochgelly tawse. Demand for these developed quickly as word of their effectiveness spread. Until 1945 teachers wanting a Lochgelly strap could buy it from either of the two Lochgelly makers.

Around 1942 George Dick took his son John into the business as an apprentice saddler and, around 1945, they purchased the business of Robert Philp and Son from James Heggie who was retiring. The business name changed to G.W.Dick and Son Ltd and all school straps now carried this stamp.

Around 1951 John Dick took over the business from his father George and the makers stamp on the straps changed again, this time to John J. Dick, Maker, Lochgelly. He continued to produce the now classic 24" 2 tailed belt until c.1959 when he decided to produce a wide range of models to meet differing needs. At that time he added shorter length 21" straps and new 3 tailed models. In addition he offered his school straps in four weights, Light, Medium, Heavy and Extra Heavy and a new 12" miniature strap was also made available. The range was reduced c.1975 when the 21" and 24" lengths were discontinued and replaced by a single metric length strap of 580mm, but still in 2 or 3 tail designs and in 4 weights.

In 1973 Mr Dick opened a branch at 235 High Street, Cowdenbeath, less than 3 miles from Lochgelly. The shop dealt in fancy goods, sports items, luggage, leather goods and the school strap. The Main Street, Lochgelly shop closed c.1975 and the maker's stamp on the strap changed to "The original Lochgelly, Made by John J. Dick, Cowdenbeath". Due to a demand from housewives for leaner meat there was difficulty in sourcing sufficiently thick hide for the Extra Heavy model in the later 1970's and so a special strap, made from two light to medium weight hides bonded together, was produced for about 2 years before an alternative source of hide supply was found.

The Lochgelly tawse was by far the strap most favoured by schoolteachers. There were over 30 school strap makers in Scotland but in excess of 70% of all straps used in Scotland's schools were made in Lochgelly and were used in virtually every school in Scotland. In addition, John Dick supplied straps to some schools in England and to some teachers working overseas. At his peak he was supplying 3500 -4000 school straps per year and was particularly busy in the period leading up the start of the Autumn term.

The belts were made from hard and dense leather, split into two or three stiff tails at the business end to maximise the sting, and they came in a choice of light (L) , medium (M) , heavy (H) and extra heavy (XH) weights. Teachers selected their belt according to the age of the pupil to be punished and the severity of punishment that they wished to administer, thus L and M belts were commonly used to punish Primary school pupils, with H and XH belts chosen to strap Secondary school pupils.

Scottish public (state) schools used the tawse to punish pupils of either sex on the palm of the hand. They were usually instructed to hold out one hand, palm uppermost, and supported by the other hand, which made it difficult to move the hand away during the infliction of the cuts, and also ensured that the full force of each stroke was taken by the hand being strapped. The punishment was often inflicted in front of the class, to act as a deterrent to others.

In Walsall and Gateshead, and in some schools in Manchester, male students were tawsed on the seat of the trousers.

Some Scottish private (independent) schools also used the tawse, such as Keil School, but others such as Fettes College used the cane instead, in the way of most schools in England.

A 1982 judgment of the European Court of Human Rights about parental choice in education led indirectly to the use of the tawse (and that of all other forms of corporal punishment) being banned by law in UK state schools in 1987, but most Scottish local education authorities had already abolished it by the early 1980s.

Original Lochgelly tawses are now considered collectibles and may be sold for several hundred pounds each.

The tawse was also used for judicial corporal punishment in Scotland as an alternative to the more usual birch. Courts could sentence boys of over 14 but under 16 to up to 36 strokes with an extra-heavy tawse for any offence. This was administered to the offender's bare buttocks. Judicial corporal punishment was abolished in 1948.

Sources, References and External links

The Cane and the Tawse in Scottish Schools, article at World Corporal Punishment Research
The Belt (Factsheet 12), Heatherbank Museum of Social Work, Glasgow Caledonian University
A History of the Lochgelly Tawse,